Well Stocked With ageless guard John Stockton executing sagely on offense and pestering the Lakers to distraction on defense, the Jazz jumped to a 2-0 lead in the West finals

He has no look-at-me gyrations, no shimmy, no shake. He doesn'tdrag his finger across his throat or push his hands toward therafters to play to the crowd and the cameras, and the only timehe talks trash is when he has to take it out at home. Maybethat's why some people want to rush him off the stage--he seemsold-fashioned, out of place, an island of humility in a sea ofself-promotion.

But Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton is in no hurry to leave.In fact he's amused by all the talk of his age and supposedinfirmity. He's 36, and history shows that, even among theleague's greatest guards, few have reached his age withoutsuffering a severe decline. But when it's suggested that hisadvancing years have robbed him of a step or two, or that he'smore susceptible to injury, Stockton smiles slyly, like amagician who knows his audience is looking at the wrong hand. Goahead and check the calendar, Stockton seems to be saying, whileI beat you again.

Stockton didn't beat the Los Angeles Lakers by himself in Game 1of the Western Conference finals last Saturday at the DeltaCenter, but he had a hand in Utah's shockingly easy 112-77win--both hands, actually. He dished out nine assists in just 22minutes on the court and helped set the tone for the Jazz'sdefense against Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal by swatting atthe ball whenever O'Neal was foolish enough to put it on thefloor. Two days later Stockton was even more masterly. Just whenhis team was on the verge of being blown out, the Utah pointguard got hot, scoring 14 second-quarter points. He finishedwith 22 and added six assists, directing the Jazz to a 99-95 winand a 2-0 lead in the series, which will move to Los Angeles forGame 3 on Friday.

Stockton's performances in the games at the Delta Center weretypical of most in his 14-year career, the kind he must maintainif the Jazz are to keep the more athletic Lakers from flyingpast them into the NBA Finals. Stockton quickly showed that he'sone of the keys to Utah's hopes of containing O'Neal better thanthe Seattle SuperSonics did in the Western semifinals. Insteadof double-teaming O'Neal as soon as he got the ball, which wasthe Sonics' tactic, the Jazz often used only one defenderagainst him until he made his move to the basket, at which pointone or more other defenders quickly collapsed around him. In asense Utah deceived Shaq into thinking he had an easy chance toscore, so O'Neal was eager to go to the basket. That kept himfrom making the decisive passes he had made against Seattle andbogged down the Los Angeles offense.

There's no one better at sagging inside to pester a big man thanStockton, the all-time NBA steals leader. He was credited withjust one theft against O'Neal on Saturday, but he got his handon several more balls and helped harass Shaq into seventurnovers. Meanwhile, Stockton committed only one turnover in 22minutes, which was one of the reasons the vaunted L.A. fastbreak was never a factor.

This is all Utah is asking Stockton to do in the series: run theoffense with his customary efficiency; take the punishment thatcomes with setting picks on the Los Angeles big men; double-teamO'Neal near the basket on occasion; contain speedy Lakers pointguards Derek Fisher, 23, and Nick Van Exel, 26; and keep thepace of the games slow enough to blunt the Lakers' break yetfast enough for the Jazz to get some easy transition points."Hey, he was named one of the 50 greatest players of all time,wasn't he?" said Utah forward Antoine Carr after Game 1. "He canhandle it."

How much Stockton can handle has been increasingly open toquestion. He sat out the first 18 games of the regular seasonafter surgery on his left knee to repair cartilage damage, andhis statistics dropped from 14.4 points and 10.5 assists pergame in 1996-97 to 12.0 and 8.5, respectively, this season. Butopponents saw the greatest signs of slippage on defense, wherethe whispers grew louder that Stockton was vulnerable to quickpoint guards. Before Game 1 one Laker said his team's strategyagainst Stockton was simple. "Attack him," he said. "He'll havea hard time with Derek and Nick." In Game 1 Stockton survivedthe attack: Fisher and Van Exel combined for nine points on 2 of12 shooting, and five assists. In Game 2 the two Lakers,throttled by Stockton and his backup, Howard Eisley, were onlysporadically effective, totaling 21 points and disappearing forlong stretches in the second half.

Before the series opener the Jazz almost welcomed the L.A.tactic of targeting Stockton. "I've been here four years, andevery year I've heard that John is slowing down, and I keepwaiting to see the evidence," says Utah forward Adam Keefe."It's the annual question: Has Stockton lost a step?" Stocktonis so used to this line of inquiry that he has developed astandard answer: "I don't think about my age, I just play. Ifother people want to worry about whether I've lost a step,that's up to them. I don't really listen to a lot of thatstuff." Stockton's opinion is matched by that of Jazz coachJerry Sloan. "He's not 19 anymore, but he still plays the gamewith as much intelligence as any point guard who's ever played,"says Sloan. "I'll take Stockton at 36 over a lot of point guardsin this league at 26."

Still, Sloan has gone to greater lengths to keep Stockton freshthis season than he has in previous years. Stockton averaged29.0 minutes per game in the regular season, the first time inthe last 11 years he has averaged less than 34.7. As Stockton'splaying time has declined, Eisley's minutes have increased tothe extent that the two now split time almost evenly. In Game 1Eisley also played 22 minutes, contributing 14 points and nineassists while not committing a turnover.

Eisley, 25, is in many ways the perfect understudy for Stockton.He, too, plays a no-frills game, and off the court not only doeshe have even less to say than Stockton but also the few words hedoes utter are spoken barely above a whisper. Stockton andEisley are so reserved that you have to wonder what theirconversations are like. "Probably short and to the point," saysforward Karl Malone, who led the Jazz in Game 1 with 29 pointsand in Game 2 with 33. When Eisley was struggling from thefield--he had made only 21 of his 69 shots (30.4%) in theplayoffs before hitting 6 of 8 in the opener against L.A.--hereceived some typically concise encouragement from Stockton:"Keep shooting."

Just as Stockton wastes no words, he wastes no motion. Oremotion. Maybe that's the secret of his longevity; just thinkhow much energy he has saved by refusing to pat himself on theback. In Game 1 he drove the baseline and scored on an acrobaticreverse flip over 19-year-old Lakers guard Kobe Bryant. Mostother players would have made some self-congratulatory gestureon their way back down the court, but Stockton did what he'sbeen doing for 14 years, the same thing he will no doubt bedoing for a few more. He just kept running.

COLOR PHOTO: JOHN W. MCDONOUGH SHAQDOWN Lured into going to the hoop, O'Neal was stung repeatedly in Game 1 by the gnatlike Stockton and other Jazz defenders. [Shaquille O'Neal and John Stockton reaching for basketball in game]

Before he became the premier postseason performer of his generation, the Patriots icon was a middling college quarterback who invited skepticism, even scorn, from fans and his coaches. That was all—and that was everything